The healthiest convenience foods and the ones to avoid – from baked beans to supermarket bread

It’s five o’clock, and the white-knuckle ride through the aisles is in full swing. I, along with what feels like half the neighbourhood, am grimly slaloming my way through the obstacle course that is my local supermarket.

Yes, I want to get my groceries at the farmer’s market and the local independents too. But the reality is, a good chunk is going to be picked up in a harried trolley dash in between other commitments. 

It’s an experience that takes every ounce of focus, as the products on the shelves vie for attention. ‘Buy me, I’m low in sugar,’ squeals the fruit squash in fluorescent capitals. ‘But I’m organic,’ murmurs the bag of corn snacks, temptingly, while the “plant based burger” banner flickers in my peripheral vision. 

For all their protestations, none of these – nor countless others of the products on sale on our high street – are really healthy.

They are examples of Ultra Processed Foods, which make up 57 per cent of the British diet. These products, described as “industrially produced edible substances” in Dr Chris Van Tulleken’s book Ultra Processed People, are increasingly being recognised as a major health risk linked to cancer, high blood pressure, anxiety, asthma and diabetes. 

But it isn’t easy to distinguish between what constitutes a UPF, what is just plain unhealthy, and what’s actually going to nourish us. I could stick to fresh fruit and veg plus some dried beans and a sprinkle of chia seeds. But the peccadilloes of a family of fusspots combined with my own shortcomings – chiefly just feeling exhausted – mean that some shortcuts and convenience foods are going to hit the bottom of the trolley.

I refuse to feel guilty, and neither should you – especially as, with a bit of know-how, we can be savvy on the supermarket sweep. 

Baked beans

Most baked beans fall into the ultra processed category as they are bolstered with modified starch, and sometimes glucose-fructose syrup as well. Sugar-free baked beans sound healthier, but they almost all contain artificial sweetener which a review last year by the World Health Organisation found did not help with weight loss, and may increase risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults. 

Healthiest choices

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